Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Hello hello again. 
today was the first day at work. it was great. i like it. it's like being back in pre-school, hahahaha. No really. here's what I do: i work at an image library at one of the most renowned art history institutes in the world. Their images date back to the mid 1800s. the institute aquires images by donations of photographs of pieces, paintings, sculptures, architecture, etc. Or they buy catalogues from auction houses (think christie's and sotheby's), museums, galleries, etc. and they cut out the images they want, mount them then file them by artist. 
Great idea, for the 1800s when the library was first started. For the 21st century? not so much. My job is to go through catalogues, follow the marks that the art historians made, and cut out the images they have selected, cut them neatly, paste them onto mounting board, including artist info, title, etc, then file them according to name and geographic location. The problem? The entire concept of the library, and thus my job, is totally obsolete! I should be scanning the images into an online database. 
The thing is, here is what the people at the library are like: old, tonny blair-loving, conservative, traditionalist, techno-phobes, obsolete women who can't dress, don't know that the world outside the library changes and progresses, and have continued to do the same thing for over 200 years, they're as old as the building. You get the old librarians, the old art historians who hate modern art, and old volunteers who help keep the files in order. 
So it's totally and completely pointless. we live in a digital world, that's what the library should be, i mean don't get rid of the images they already have, but stop putting new ones in paper, and do it digitally. 
However, my job is quite fun, and quite a workout. It's fun being back in pre-school and cutting out images from magazines, gluing the to the paper, then of course, filing them means constatntly climbing up and down step stools to reach the top of the shelves, and walking all around the library back and forth to find the artists. 
I like it. It's fun, no computer work, i keep busy, so time flies and i get to learn and see art history on a daily basis. 
As obsolete as the women are, they are very nice. 
Ok shower time. 
Ciao ciao!!

3 comments:

pk said...

wow, suena de lujo, lore. qué buen lugar para trabajar
beso

Arturo's said...

Que padrisimo!!
a poco no nos extranias?
jejeje
besos, y recuerda voltear dos veces al cruzar la calle!!!!

Senora Duran said...

Que horror mi amor!
suena bastante aburrido, pero asi es la vida. Los trabajos manuales mecanicos ayudan a relajarse y pensar. A lo mejor es como limpiar la cocina.
Mil besos.
Mama